HIGHER EDUCATION

Higher Education

State and local public colleges and universities educate more than 70 percent of the students enrolled in this country’s degree-granting institutions, according to the State Budget Task Force. It is no surprise, then, that higher education allocations accounts for 10 percent of state total expenditures, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers. Higher education budgets are attractive options for governors and lawmakers who need to cut down on their state's spending.

HEADLINES: Illinois

The board of the State Universities Retirement System voted Thursday to accept an interpretation of last year's state-pension reform law that says the law won't inadvertently cut university retirees' pensions.

HEADLINES: Florida

Florida legislators moved their $75-billion state budget package into position for adjournment of their election-year session Tuesday and revived a politically sensitive plan for letting undocumented immigrants get in-state tuition in state colleges.

HEADLINES

According to NASBO, Kentucky and many other states have put the emphasis on restoring funding to education this year. A still incomplete survey of states showed that the vast majority are increasing elementary and secondary education funding, along with transportation and infrastructure.

HEADLINES: Ohio

Provisions in House Bill 484 would make funding for state community, community and technical colleges incentivized based on student success. Rep. Cliff Rosenberger said the bill would help Ohio lead the nation in tying funding to academic performance.

RESEARCH: Tennessee

The sixth-annual Tennessee Pork Report is chock-full yet again, of waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement of taxpayer money by state and local government officials. Despite a changing political landscape in Tennessee, wasteful government spending has not disappeared.

RESEARCH

An evaluation of the current system of higher education accreditation as well as proposed reforms on all of the most important dimensions and demonstrates how public policies addressing one issue can create or exacerbate problems in others.

RESEARCH: Missouri

In some cases, the institutions of higher education in Misouri are doing a great job; in others, not so well. The purpose of the report is not to be punitive, but to address ways higher education in Missouri can be more accountable and transparent. The report is designed to showcase information and data of interest to students, parents, alumni, and taxpayers.

RESEARCH: Minnesota

Are students learning the things they need to know? Is there a healthy exchange of ideas? Are trustees upholding the public trust? Are taxpayers getting a good value for their money? These are the kinds of questions to which the people of Minnesota deserve answers. It is the goal of this report card to provide answers and to help Minnesota—a state rightly known for its passion for education—be a national standard bearer for excellence, accountability, and efficiency in higher education.

RESEARCH: Washington

Merely spending money is not enough - the question arises: is Washington getting good value for its public expenditures? Washington spends a lot on colleges, but relatively few of its citizens graduate from college. Moreover, the evidence suggests costs are rising rather significantly over time. Staffs are typically increasing faster than student enrollments. For all the concerns about inadequate state support heard from university leaders, the evidence shows Washington treats higher education more generously than most of its neighbors or other American states, while in some respects it may get less in results.

SOLUTIONS: Texas

Texas is well-placed to build on existing strengths relative to other states in the areas of tuition costs, student loan indebtedness and civic education requirements. Moreover, our legislators and universities have committed to increasing graduation rates, online learning opportunities and accountability in public higher education.

SOLUTIONS: North Dakota

A guide to needed reforms in pensions, taxes and higher education, among other areas, with two types of goals that are important when working towards limiting government: long-term policy objectives that show the end-game goals and short-term policies that steer public policy towards the long-term goals. This guide provides both.

SOLUTIONS: Washington

Ten ideas to cut waste and balance the buget without raising taxes, including more efficient K-12 funding, spending high education tax dollars more wisely and rein in state employee salaries and benefits.

SOLUTIONS: Oregon

In light of Oregon facing a budget crisis, the Taxpayer Foundation has issued a master list of budget balancing ideas that do not require raising taxes. These ideas have been collected from Oregon lawmakers, think tank groups, taxpayer organizations, unions, policy analysts, Democrats, Republicans and even ideas utilized in states across the nation.

SOLUTIONS: Oklahoma, Indiana

Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs | by Jonathan Small | August 4, 2011

Establish limited priorities for Oklahoma’s state government. Once limited priorities are set, everything else should be considered according to these priorities. The state currently has hundreds of agencies, boards, and commissions; it’s no wonder there is chronic overspending and regular “revenue shortfalls.”

SOLUTIONS

With shrinking budgets and growing demand for immediate solutions, lawmakers need to know what questions to ask and where to turn for fast, reliable information to make informed higher education policy decisions.

SOLUTIONS

The time has come for openness and accountability in post-secondary education. The best way to achieve this is through performance audits, which look at all facets of an institution-from student input/outcome data to faculty process data to all aspects of financial data. This project is to develop areas of process for a Performance Audit Guide used to evaluate how public (and/or private) institutions use student, public, and donor funds to meet the institutions' primary missions.

SOLUTIONS

This paper examines the broader economic studies that attempt to correlate expenditure with results. He finds that the results are not as favorable as they are often said to be, and he offers some explanations for why.

SOLUTIONS: New York

The document explains why and how New York state developed such massive budget deficits and identifies programmatic changes to begin closing the gaps, including privatization and competitive contracting, cost reductions and tax policy goals to promote economic growth.

BLOG: California

The question since June has not been whether or not California would realize an extra $4 billion in revenue, thus avoiding a slate of automatically triggered budget cuts, but rather how much it would fall short.

BLOG: Missouri

Brady Deaton, Chancellor of the University of Missouri, said diminishing state funding for the University of Missouri attributed to its decision to move from the Big 12 Conference to the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

BLOG

Not only do we need to reform the higher education system and how students pay for college, but we also need to change the culture around higher education and the expectations that everyone must go to college. We need to end the delusional obsession with nonacademic offices that do nothing to prepare future generations of Americans for real life.